Leith streets shame of Capital

Published on Thursday 29 November 2007 12:07

THE streets of Leith are the dirtiest in the city and have contributed to a sharp fall in Edinburgh's cleanliness rating.

A Keep Scotland Beautiful study found that roads and pavements in the Leith and Leith Walk wards scored well below the Capital's average.

Overall, Edinburgh scored 66 out of 100 on the Cleanliness Index Monitoring System - which is down from a record high of 70 in March.

However, Leith scored 48 and Leith Walk scored 52 - leading to calls from councillors and community leaders for a greater effort on keeping the area clean.

Leith Labour councillor Gordon Munro said residents had been complaining about the state of the port's streets for years.

He said: "I have raised this before because the number of complaints from residents that I'm getting and the enforcement actions being taken don't match up.

"We are not getting the service in Leith that other areas of the city are getting. It is unfair and Leith deserves the same level of service as everywhere else." Cigarette ends and take-away wrappers made up the majority of litter found in the two wards in the September survey.

Cllr Munro added: "It's up to residents to do their bit as well, but the council needs to match that."

He cited the foot of Leith Walk, Tolbooth Wynd and Taylor Gardens as the areas worst hit by litter and dog fouling. In a report to the transport infrastructure and environment committee, council officials said Edinburgh's streets were roughly as clean as in 2006 - after reaching a peak in March and June this year.

The Colinton/Fairmilehead ward had the cleanest streets in the most recent survey, with a mark of 77.

A number of measures to improve the cleanliness of streets throughout the city were outlined. They included identifying and dealing with litter hotspots; a crackdown on smokers who drop their cigarette butts; working with secondary pupils to encourage them not to drop their food wrappers, and introducing more litter control notices on streets.

Linda Tarbuck, a member of the Leith Links Residents Association, said: "There are a lot of fast food outlets on Leith Walk and that must contribute to the litter.

"As far as cigarette butts go, they are often dropped on the street by some of the [homeless] people who live in the bed and breakfasts."

Environment leader Cllr Robert Aldridge said: "Unfortunately the latest figures show no improvement over the same period last year. We are determined to improve our ratings and are in the process of introducing a range of measures to achieve this."